Missing $2 million hangs over Vigil-Giron - SantaFeNewMexican.com

A draft of a federal audit of the Secretary of State's Office says a Democratic consultant paid by the state to produce TV spots about the Help America Vote Act can't account for more than $2 million paid to him, and the state might be responsible for repaying some of the funds.

However, former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, who is running for Congress in Albuquerque, calls the release of the Election Assistance Commission draft audit a politically motivated attack on her to damage her before the June primary.

She blamed current Secretary of State Mary Herrera. A spokesman for Herrera denied it.

Vigil-Giron said some of the issues raised in the preliminary audit — which apparently was leaked to The New Mexico Independent Web site — can be explained, though she said she doesn't know why the A. Gutierrez & Associates Inc. consultant company could substantiate only $2.6 million of the $4.8 million budgeted for voter education television spots.